What a shame, this beer pours as a very nice looking red color. The white head fizzles away shortly after the pour. The aroma is tart with cherries and bacterial sourness. The taste is tart upfront and fades into nothingness. This beer has no substance or complexity to it. The tartness of the beer doesn't stick around at all. It's a very strange lambic. I can't even tell whether it's aged at all in oak or not. If it is, then It wasn't aged long enough. Perhaps they should add more than just cherry juice to the batch and actually add full cherries to get this thing going. Not a very good brew in my opinion. Sprecher has yet to impress me with anything they've put out.

Into a Duvel tulip, the 22 oz. bomber pours a deep saturated scarlet, dark in the center with blood red ruby edges. Pink foam, creamy like cherry yogurt. Retention is ok, the skim only breaks after 10 minutes or so.

Full on ripe cherry nose, sweet and fruity, with a creeping Brett presence of leather, wet musty hay, and gauze notes. More fruity than anything, though the slight funkiness lends some credibility as a lambic-style wild ale. Let it warm up to really get the full aroma.

Tart pie cherry, somewhat sweet at first with some of the funkiness from the nose. Dry aftertaste, crisp carbonation. The sweetness is balanced by a flash of sourness initially, which tempers the sweet element just enough. Authentic Door county cherries are noticeable, lending a succulent bright fruitiness that is unique. Not the most complex, but it showcases the cherries nicely. Soft, lush feel with slight natural acidity from the fruit. It has the creaminess of cherry yogurt in the midpalate. Very quenching and drinkable. Objectively this is a good beer, when not attempting to judge it myopically against traditional Belgian lambics. It's not in the same league with Cantillon (lol), or even Lindemans on the other end of the scale.

Imagine Belgian Red with Brett... this "Kriek-style" fruit beer is on that path. A few bottles in the cellar would be a worthwhile experiment, as it's bottle conditioned. For a first-time *lambic-style* beer from a brewer that traditionally brews German styles, Sprecher Kriek is a success.

2013: aged bottles of this were terrible and finished dead last in a blind kriek tasting. Don't buy this if you're reading this.

What makes the red beer red? I dunno, but this one musta been bombarded by it, a la the Hulk and his gamma rayz. Seriously, this thing is bright, shiny vermillion, capped off with a finger's worth of light pink clouds. The nose reminds of those manic Easter mornings wherein I searched high and low for painted eggs and candy. At some point, I happened upon a pouch of cherry Lik-a-Made. Sniff that pouch, and you get an idea of how this smells. Seriously, the hunt is in there too, as the cherry-ness ain't exactly all up in your biz-nasty. The taste tries to go the Belgian route and take us into Sourland, but it just doesn't try hard enough. Hell, this thing would barely get one of those "Thanks for Participating, Here's a Trophy" trophies over there. Here, it's just a meek excuse for an attempt at lambicity. Not at all happy with what's touching my tongue. Luckily it dies out rather quickly. The body is a heavy and insouciant light, with a moderate carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, I'm just angry at this beer. Yeah.

Acquired via trade from ughsmash, so a big “Thank You” goes out to him. Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a flute glass.

A: The beer is a bright red color with a large pinkish off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thick but spotty lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is very esthery and contains mostly Belgian yeast and cherries.

T: The taste starts out a tart cherry flavor that is followed by some wild Belgian yeast, but there is also some metallicness to it that throws everything off and seems to prevent and harmony and balance from happening. The after-taste is slightly sour.

M: Crisp but not very smooth, light-to-medium body, medium-to-high carbonation, finish is dry and slightly sticky.

D: Not very tasty, goes down ok, not too filling, mild kick, decent representation of style, there are certainly other Lambics that I would pick over this one.

Intense nose here. At first the bugs just claw at my nose, and it doesn't come across pretty. Then it turns into more of a kriek and funky combination. Let's keep in mind that I haven't even tried the beer yet. Here we go. Eh. It's okay. Seems kind of unremarkable. Just a heavy load of brettanomyces. Seems to be overbearing on all other aspects of the beer. Kriek is almost not present. I've certainly had some horrific and poorly executed lambics and wild ales. This isn't really one of those. It's just as one dimensional as it gets, and not very interesting. Sure tastes like a lambic though.

Poured chilled into a tumbler and flute shared with my wife(octopus87)

A deep cherry red (go figure) and the cap is a thick 2 fingers of cotton candy pink with average bead and lace. The clarity is slightly hazed and yeast particulate is visible suspended in the beer. The smell is good -lots of sweet aromas with some tart fruit and mild funk from the yeast.

The flavor doesn't match the aroma -the cherry taste is there but fades to a creamy wheat taste -like the equivalent of kool-aid in the beer realm. There is light tannic tinges and the taste has subtle sweetness from the fruit. Overall a decent example, but I prefer to get my krieks from Belgium where true Lambics originate in the Lambeek region.

Peculiar pinky amber in the tulip glass. Nose is a little vinegary but interesting. Highly carbonated, and very bubbly on the tongue. Light bodied and almost delicate in its many flavors. Sour, of course, but not astringent. An undertone of earth, woody flavors. Only a hint of sweetness. Fruit is not overpowering, and more like a very dry cider.

OK, so it's Pink Champale made for us beer sophisticates. But quite drinkable, and thoroughly entertaining.

Picked up at 12oz bottle for $3 at Discount Liquor - I think I got ripped off. Shared with Mike while picking up some bubble wrap. Served in some sort of tulip.

A - A finger of quick-dissolving white foam sizzles to a thin ring of bubbles. Orange-tinged and hazy dark pink body.

S - Ripe sweet and juicy cherries, light green funk, some lactic acidity and a hint of plastic in the periphery. Actually smells pretty convincing in a fresh Boon Kriek sort of way.

T - Taste is nothing like the smell. When it isn't obscured by the horrible texture, there are notes of mineral water, rotting fruits, and very odd acetobacter. Not much cherry at all, and it gets progressively worse over time.

M - The feel is absolutely awful. The carbonation is harsher than soda, and the texture is somewhat slimy. Medium-bodied, if you're patient enough to wait out the fizz. I suppose the only way it could be worse is if some alcohol was apparent, which thankfully wasn't the case.

D - On the plus side, it made that attractive carbonation sizzle as I poured the remnants of the bottle down the drain. Just not very good - I'd rather have Boon Kriek, or even a Lindemans.

A cool light red transluscence, this should appeal to goth and vampire type folks. But seriously, it looks good. Aroma had the Door County cherry thing going for it, tart, yet robust.

At first, the sweetness is the first thing to come out, not over the top, its a door county cherry, but it isn't until a little later that enough tartness and mild sourness comes to balance the beer out and make it a good one. Wheat apparent. A little metallic, but the carbonation is just right. Keeps getting better as it warms.

Really enjoyable, had one of these to mix things up while we were camping up at Emerald Bay (DL Bliss) in Lake Tahoe. Very nice around a fire on a cool July night.

Lighter medium body, high carbonation, bubbly and abrasive on the tongue. A decent enough take on the typical kriek although it definitely gets lost in the shuffle with more traditional Belgian examples.

A - The ruby red beer is hazed through and through. A two-finger light pink foam rises up and lingers briefly before sinking to a well-retained, stout pile of bubbles. Nice spotty lace is left around the glass.

S - A nicely balanced lactic funky aroma is the first thing to come out of the gate. Hints of straw and barnyard with woody compliments are mellow but give the nose a nice complexity. The tartness from the cherries shines through well before the fruitiness does. A swirl brings out more cherry aroma.

T - Initial reaction...it's a bit thin. There seems to be a bit of an absence of malt and a lack of sweetness for a fruit lambic. Second reaction says, since when are cherries supposed to have a big sweetness? In cough syrup. And this isn't like that thankfully. This beer has a nice tart cherry flavor with a balanced lambic funk. Sprecher is playing it safe and keeping the wild tones to a minimum but the yeast still imparts nice mellow wood, straw, and barnyard nuances.

M - The thinness at first is almost mistaken for a lack of carbonation. That's definitely not the case though. Without a big sweetness common to a lot of fruit lambics, this one seems different...in a good way. It's medium-light body and lightly tart finish works well as does the well carbonated but non-obstructive level of bubbles.

D - While the color is bright red, the lambic qualities shine through well over the cherry. A good tartness to the finish makes it a balanced, training-wheel-like lambic beer for those Sprecher drinkers who may not be accustomed to the style. Nicely balanced and drinkable, Sprecher's Kriek Lambic is nothing to write home about but it is certainly a good beer from a brewery getting their feet wet in new styles not common to Wisconsin!

(S)- A rather dry woody tart cherry profile. Alot of brett aromas in this. Funkier and drier than I expected.

(T)- Fairly similar to the smell, but the flavor totally drops off on the mid-palate. Some tart & dry cherries with a potent medicinal/band-aid brett aspect. The finish is non-existent.

(M)- A good carbonation level. Very dry with very mild fruits. A bit bitter when it comes to all the Brett-like characteristics.

(D)- An interesting American take on the style, but needs a little bit of work. A bit disjointed with an almost non-existent mid-palate and finish. A good start however, and in the right direction for Sprecher.

Knowing this, it was with a heavy heart and shaky hand that I plunked a bottle of Kriek Lambic down upon the liquor store counter. See, I'm trying to get to 1500 reviews before Jan 1, and right now the odds of me accomplishing that feat ain't looking too hot. It isn't that I'm not man enough to drink 31 beers in the next 17 days. It's just--I'm poor. Used to be that single bottles were affordable, I could blaze through 25-30 reviews on a 100 dollar budget. Now Mikkeler costs a dollar per ounce (seriously), and every podunk upstart midwestern brewery thinks their beer is worth 10 bucks a bomber.

Eh... anyhow, I got to buy single bottles, and the cheaper the better. So god bless Sprecher, even in spite of their technical deficiencies, for being decent enough not to charge too much for their middling swill.

Middling at best, that is. Middling is what I'm hoping for, pouring out this aggressively fizzy koolaid-colored grog. Is this intentional, or a sign that maybe these fella didn't know what they were doing with strange yeast.

Smells... fine? Goodish, actually. Very, very tart brett combined with a few nodes of mellow cherries. Maybe a bit too sour, but pretty good and interesting.

Tastes... just fine! The tartness is less immense, mellowed out really effectively by the duller sweetness of ripe cherries. This is hardly the masterful blend of, say, Belgian Red, and it really don't taste like a lambic, but it's interesting enough to keep me drinking.

I can't account for the awful reviews. Maybe it's mellowed out with age? I dunno, but I'm glad my penury forced me into ignoring my prejudice and giving this a try.

a: after popping the cap the carbonation very slowly builds to push through the neck of the bottle, poured into my wide piraat chalice, this kriek appears ruby red - the color of pink grapefruit flesh, topped with only a thin ring of carbonation

s: immediately hit with loads of tart on the nose - wild and lovingly rotten, lots of dry sour aromas with a heavy current of fully fermented red fruits, cherry and strawberry fallen to the ground and fermenting in place - not an entirely different species than a crisp rose wine (save the bacteria, of course), green apple tart, powerful funk, some slight sweetness comes from a slight residual cherry sugar

m: carbonation nucleates and blooms on the palate - not quite mouth filling, but highly active and abrasive, body on the lighter side

t: tart-sour powdered fruits spread across the palate - most notably cherry of course, but some additions of strawberry, cranberry, and green apple, quite acidic and highly dry with some slightly perceptible residual fruit sugars - slightly more with warmth, again with the powerful wild funk, maybe a touch thin on the tongue but still mostly on the mark

o: the only knock I can really have here is that it’s not terrifyingly/awesomely complex - particularly on the tongue, but it hits some great sour/wild notes to satisfy the rot craving, and the fruits come through nicely and not cloying

I get the funk that others seem to be missing, and the sugars are nicely dried out - perhaps it took some time for it to take over. 10327 on the neck (Nov. 22 '10?)